Chapter Eighteen: Securing Apricot Valley

August 5, 1938, Xing’ergou

One by one, miners covered in coal dust emerged from the mine, naked to the waist with baskets strapped to their backs and oil lamps clenched in their mouths. They passed in single file, unloaded the coal from their bodies, received their tokens from the foreman, and then descended again into the pitch-black tunnels. This was the grim reality of small coal mines in this era. Xing’ergou Coal Mine was relatively well-off; in some mines where seepage occurred, workers had to toil in waist-deep water underground, risking their lives with every step.

This was Li Fugui’s small coal mine. Even in Heyuan County, it wasn’t considered a large mine—not even mid-sized. It only shipped about ten carts of coal a day, just enough to support the miners, let alone the entire security detachment stationed there.

The company stationed here was the absolute elite of the security regiment: 120 men equipped with over eighty Shanxi-made Type 65 rifles, nine Type 65 light machine guns, plus one Type 38 heavy machine gun. With permanent brick-and-stone fortifications, ordinary people dared not attack this place lightly.

Wang Yue ultimately decided to take this position. No matter what plans lay ahead, capturing this site could bring no harm. To secure it, Wang Yue mobilized two infantry platoons and one machine-gun-and-artillery platoon, reinforcing each infantry platoon with two grenade launchers. Additionally, he brought along Meng Fanle, the new instructor team leader, who had persuaded over eighty prisoners of war to join their cause.

Meng Fanle had once confided about tricking people into a death trap, but Wang Yue had dismissed it. Now, it was real: over eighty prisoners clamoring to join the Independent Detachment to fight the Japanese, without even mentioning pay or conditions.

Thus commenced the largest military operation since the Independent Detachment’s formation. To prevent surprises, Wang Yue coordinated with the Independent Regiment and the Hei Yun Village forces to create distractions while his own troops took action.

“Where is the Yamazaki Detachment now?” Wang Yue checked his watch and asked Gu Yufei, who controlled the only radio of the Independent Detachment. Whether contacting the 386th Brigade or the 358th Regiment, all communication went through her, so she accompanied him on this mission.

“They’re still outside Dagu Town. Who would have thought that Qian Bojun of the 358th Regiment’s First Battalion would casually shoot Yamazaki Jihei in the rear? Now, there’s no turning back,” Gu Yufei said with a smile. Two days ago, Yamazaki’s unit passed through Dagu Town chasing the New First Regiment. The Jin-Sui Army wouldn’t normally respond, but Yamazaki Jihei’s arrogance showed. His troops marched too close to the town—close enough for a single charge to seize the position. Faced with this, Qian Bojun fired a warning shot into the Japanese ranks. Unexpectedly, the bullet passed over the vanguard and struck Yamazaki Jihei’s rear end.

At first, Yamazaki Jihei did not intend to escalate, merely demanding the Jin-Sui Army hand over the shooter. But Qian Bojun refused to comply. Before Chu Yunfei could intervene, fighting broke out. No scapegoats were sought, no higher command protection expected—Qian Bojun resolved to fight Yamazaki Jihei to the death from that moment on.

For days, the two sides had been locked in a stalemate outside Dagu Town, engaging in several artillery duels with casualties on both sides. Yamazaki Jihei, desperate, even called in air strikes to bomb Qian Bojun’s position, yet he still failed to break through. Rumor had it the dispatched army headquarters was aware of the situation. Yamazaki Jihei could not afford to give up lightly.

“Yǒufú, fire one hundred shells within one minute! Don’t spare the ammunition!” Wang Yue ordered, calling over Jia Youfu. Though just a mortar platoon leader, Jia Youfu had trained all the Independent Detachment’s artillery. For safety, he was brought along.

“Senior, watch and learn. All targets are marked, ammunition types allocated. We’ll silence all their fire points in less than a minute,” Jia Youfu confidently promised. Even with his Northeast Army background, he had never fought such a well-supplied battle—two cannons, firing a hundred shells at once, costing thousands of silver dollars in ammunition.

“Don’t underestimate them, especially that heavy machine gun fortress. That rubble wall must be at least a meter thick,” Wang Yue said, eyeing the coal mine’s core machine-gun bunker.

“I’ve double-checked. It’s bound with mixed earth and clay, no cement, no tamped earth core. Our steel-cored shells might not penetrate, but they’ll definitely collapse the facade. It’s just a matter of a few more or fewer shells,” Jia Youfu said confidently. Judging the binder from afar with binoculars was artillery expertise.

“Wait a bit longer. The Independent Regiment and Hei Yun Village will attack Heyuan County targets at six o’clock,” Wang Yue glanced at his silver pocket watch. Though the original owner had an imported wristwatch, he preferred this silver pocket watch from Nalan Xinde, a signed Hendali custom piece—something that would fetch a high price in the 21st century.

“Commander, I’ve promised them: besides ten silver dollars in compensation, they’ll receive martyr honors if they fall,” Meng Fanle reminded slyly. Persuading men to die was one thing, but promises had to be kept, lest anyone rebel.

“No problem. We’ll build a martyr’s cemetery for them. Remember, you’re not tricking them to die—you’re helping them atone,” Wang Yue solemnly instructed.

About ten minutes later, at six o’clock sharp, a squad sent by Li Wula swiftly captured a concealed post atop the hill east of the coal mine. Two puppet troops guarding it carried a signal pistol; if danger struck the mine, they would immediately fire a flare.

Then, the machine-gun-and-artillery platoon began targeted strikes on the mine’s defensive points. The rapid-fire of the five-barrel Hotchkiss machine guns, combined with carefully checked shells, left no chance for misfires. In an instant, the puppet defenses were shattered.

Admittedly, Li Fugui had put effort into these fortifications. Most machine gun nests could be destroyed with one or two shells. Fortifications lacked concrete, reinforcement bars, or tamped earth layers—if one or two shells were insufficient, three or four would do; five at most. Even the strongest core bunker’s wall finally collapsed after eight shells hit.

As the bombardment continued, long-prepared machine gun fire opened up: two heavy machine guns and six light machine guns mowed down the puppet troops fleeing from the shelling. Skilled gunners dropped one enemy per burst. Though the accuracy of 7.9 mm round-nosed bullets was lacking, at this close range, the difference from pointed bullets was negligible.

After the shelling ceased, Meng Fanle drew his pistol and led the prisoner soldiers in an assault. To avoid confusion, these prisoners wore freshly dyed puppet uniforms with Japanese Type 90 steel helmets and carried long Mauser 1884 rifles, bayonets gleaming ominously.

The mine’s outer wall had long been breached by artillery. The eighty-plus prisoners charged in, followed by a platoon of Independent Detachment troops. The machine-gun-and-artillery platoon took positions outside to secure a defensive perimeter. Wang Yue was no battlefield genius but was always prudent.

The puppet elite, though shocked by the howling prisoners, quickly broke and surrendered. Only a few dared resist. Soon, all the puppets were subdued, and the battle seemed over.

However, as Meng Fanle’s men prepared to take over the factory buildings, an unexpected event occurred. Several men in civilian clothes wheeled out a Gatling gun—a ten-barrel, old-fashioned 11 mm weapon mounted on a cart. Though antiquated, its power was formidable. The charging prisoners fell in droves.

Yet the Gatling gun’s fatal flaw was a high firing baseline; once fixed, it couldn’t move vertically. After the first volley, it required painstaking adjustment to target hiding puppets. But the puppets gave no time. A hail of bullets soon turned the gun crew into a hornet’s nest.

If Meng Fanle hadn’t restrained the furious prisoners, none of the factory workers would have survived. When the Independent Detachment finally secured Xing’ergou Coal Mine, Wang Yue led the men into the mine’s courtyard.

The core mining area was small and the fight brief. Casualty and capture counts were quickly tallied.

Twelve prisoner soldiers died, two seriously wounded. The devastating power of the 11 mm Gatling gun was undeniable. Even non-lethal hits were devastating at close range. One prisoner had his thigh bone shattered, bones and flesh mangled. After basic first aid, amputation was necessary. Another was shot in the ankle, the entire foot mangled beyond recognition. Unable to bear the pain, he committed suicide by pulling the trigger with his toes.

Unexpectedly, the Independent Detachment suffered a loss as well: a supply soldier was struck by stray fire in the left chest and died instantly. This was normal; in intense combat, such losses would be higher.

In addition to personnel losses, the Detachment lost two Mauser 1884 rifles, damaged beyond repair by the Gatling’s bullets. No matter how well-made, rifles could not withstand direct, close-range hits.

The puppet side suffered heavily: out of 120 men, only 38 were captured. Their weapons, however, were abundant: over 62 Shanxi-made Type 65 rifles, seven Type 65 light machine guns, and one Type 38 heavy machine gun. Considering the ferocity of the assault, retaining so many weapons was remarkable.

Captured in the workshops were:

- 198 units of 7.7 mm five-shot Mannlicher rifles
- 73 grenade-launchers
- 161 Mauser 1871 rifles
- 56 old revolvers
- 1 ten-barrel 11 mm Gatling gun
- 1 “Old Yellow Bull” heavy machine gun
- 307 units of 7.63 mm unique pistols
- 18 units of 15.9 mm Ning-manufactured shotguns
- 7 units of 25 mm Shanxi-made shotguns
- 1 unit of 1926 model 26 mm signal pistol
- 25 homemade Type 38 cavalry rifles
- 21 homemade box cannons
- 1 Shanghai-manufactured 75 mm Krupp mountain gun (without shells)
- 217 boxes of homemade horse-tail grenades
- 100,000 rounds of various ammunition
- 8 tons of black powder
- 1,000 meters of fuse
- 50 kg of mercury fulminate
- 297 steel rails
- 5 tons of steel ingots
- 20 tons of gray cast iron
- 3 tons of copper
- 8 tons of copper coins
- 5.2 tons of lead
- More than 300,000 assorted shell casings

These were only weapons and raw materials. Beyond these, Wang Yue found the equipment he had long coveted:

- One 20-horsepower steam donkey engine
- One planer
- One drill press
- One lathe
- Three punching machines
- One 200-kg power hammer
- One grinder
- One 100-kg crucible furnace
- One 50-kg crucible furnace
- Plus an immovable small blast furnace and various hand tools

The most frustrating discovery was how antiquated the lathes were—not electric, nor steam-powered, but animal-powered. Wang Yue’s eye twitched at the sight of a little donkey turning the grindstone. This nineteenth-century 1850s equipment had originally been paired with a small steam engine, but after the steam engine broke, it was converted to animal power. Surprisingly, it ran quite steadily.

There was a silver lining: this greatly reduced maintenance and operating costs. This equipment barely required upkeep, and even though it was outdated, it was still better than the simple manual tools used by Du Gui’s men. Although the variety of equipment was limited, most manufacturing processes could be handled. Producing small-caliber mortar shells should not be a problem.

Besides equipment, there were craftsmen. Although the prisoner soldiers had killed a few, 83 craftsmen were captured, including 51 apprentices who were at least proficient workers. If these craftsmen could be integrated, the Independent Detachment would face no ammunition supply issues for a long time.

Before the battle, it was assumed that once fighting broke out here, the miners would scatter. But to Wang Yue’s surprise, most stayed. Besides the puppet prisoners and craftsmen, they now had to deal with 72 miners who refused to leave, some even clung to the soldiers’ legs, insisting on leaving with the National Army. In the end, they were reluctantly taken along.

What pleased Wang Yue most was the food supply. Though there was hardly any rice—only 3,000 jin of millet—the granary held 18,000 jin of sorghum, 20,000 jin of black beans, and over 30,000 jin of wheat bran. With several hundred people and nearly a hundred animals, consuming such quantities was natural. The puppets ate millet, the craftsmen sorghum, the livestock black beans, and wheat bran was for the miners. No wonder the miners didn’t want to flee—this was hardly a life for men to endure.

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